PWWD leads the way on L.I. water conservation with a real plan

The Island Now

The Port Washington Water District is aggressively moving forward to reduce overall outdoor irrigation goals to 20 percent. This is no easy task and we as water consumers must do what we can to help.

I take particular pride living in Port Washington. Its residents always appear to be willing to protect the environment in making their lifestyle choices.

Potable water conservation is your call to the environment to help PWWD meet these goals to conserve our drinking water.

I hope the other water suppliers across Long Island take notice. Some already have. Western Nassau is a bellwether for groundwater issues across Long Island, the canary in the coal mine, so to speak.

Across the nation, per capita, water use is declining, even as the population increases. Conversely, Long Island per capita water use is increasing.

PWWD leads the way to meet challenges ahead, instead of kicking the can down the road-usually the sad state of affairs when it comes to water. It is up to the public to join with them. I have a smart-controller for my yard which shuts off irrigating my lawn when it rains. Besides conserving our precious water resources, my household saved 20% on our water bills in 2019! You can too.

As a birthday present, my birthday is in the summer, peak watering season, my husband promised another smart-controller feature, a soil-test moisture sensor which senses how much water is in the soil. Turns out our lawns and flora need less moisture than we think!

Get on board. let’s help PWWD lead the way for Long Island to protect our sole source groundwater aquifers by considering your landscape choices (integrate native/drought-resistant plants and xeriscape), purchase a smart irrigation controller, and check for leaks and broken speaker heads.

By the way, the New York State Department of Conservation three years ago asked all water suppliers to voluntarily reduce water usage by 15 percent to little fanfare or results, Port Washington can and will do better!

Michelle Schimel

Port Washington
Member of the Long Island Groundwater Sustainability Study Steering Committee
Member of WNAC (Western Nassau Aquifer Committee)

 

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